Next of Kin
by willynilly23
Summary: I so wanted to see some or any of this on the screen (maybe a deleted scene, even just Auggie's end of the call). Missing Scenes/Post-Ep to Suffragette City


Author's note: Missing Scenes/Post Ep from Suffregette City

"Annie, hey!" Danielle sounded so happy for what was a ridiculously early hour in California and Auggie's stomach dropped.

"Danielle, it's Auggie."

"Oh my god," Danielle gasped.

"Annie is alive," he hated that he had to start there to quell her sister's fears.

"OK," the voice on the other end sounded very small.

"She is in the hospital, she sustained 2 gunshot wounds and it has been touch and go, but she is stable now. Do you hear me? She is stable," Auggie was firm and clear, his own terror absent from his voice for the first time in days.

"OK," seemed to be all Danielle could manage.

"I arranged a flight for you if you are able to come out. I think it would do Annie good to have you here."

"Of course. Should I bring the girls, just in case…." She didn't finish that thought.

"The doctor does not think that is a possibility at this point."

"But it was at one point? When did this happen Auggie?"

"Three days ago," he confessed.

"Three days!" she shrieked on the other end.

"It wasn't my call to make Danielle, I wanted to let you know right away, but there were extenuating circumstances."

"Like what? Was she out of the country did they have to transport her back to DC? Even still someone should have called."

"No, the shooting happened here, but there needed to be some investigating before anyone could notify you," Auggie was not going to tell Danielle where exactly the shooting took place, he would let Annie do that if she wished.

The kitchen in Danielle's house was completely restored as soon as all the evidence was bagged, she would certainly be there during her visit and Auggie could not imagine how awful it would be for her to know what happened there.

"Is everything OK now?" Danielle was smart, Auggie knew she understood his implications.

"Yes, everything is settled for now, right now I am simply focusing on Annie's recovery."

"Are you OK Auggie?"

"Me, I am fine."

"You've been with her?"

"Constantly."

"Thank you," he heard her voice crack and really needed to end the call.

"Your flight is in 3 hours, if you can't make that one just text me on this number and I will shuffle it."

"I'll make it," and with that she ended the call.

"She's on her way Annie," Auggie smiled at the woman lying quietly in the bed.

Next of Kin Part 2

It was close to 3:00 am when Danielle arrived at the hospital. She knew she should just go home and rest a bit before visiting, but she couldn't wait. She was unsure if it was her sister's profession or her own bedraggled appearance, but the nurse on duty didn't prohibit her visiting at such an awful hour and in fact escorted her to the room.

"Auggie told me you were coming, he was still awake last I checked, but he better be sleeping now," the pretty nurse smiled and Danielle was shocked that Auggie was there at this time of night.

"Has he been here every night?"

"He is here more than most of us are. Day, night you name it. He started eating yesterday though, which is a good thing, thought we might have to admit him too."

Danielle didn't need to answer as the sight before her told the whole story. Annie sleeping peacefully, her hand in his and his head next to their hands on the bed. His hair was in his eyes and his neck and back was at a terrible angle for someone of his height.

The machines hummed quietly and for the most part Annie looked fine, a small IV and a couple of wires here and there, but her gown covered most of the damage. She truly looked like she was sleeping.

"I don't want to wake him," Danielle turned to the nurse.

"He's awake," Auggie mumbled and sat up, not letting go of Annie's hand.

"Auggie," the nurse admonished.

"I'll sleep when she is awake completely, I don't want to miss the moments she comes around now."

"So she can watch you sleep when she's awake, that will be fun for her," the nurse laughed.

"Hello Danielle," Auggie stood and Danielle could see the pain it took for him to let go of Annie's hand.

"Oh Auggie," she collapsed in his arms, the exhaustion, fear and sorrow combining all at once.

"I'll leave you three alone," the nurse grinned and backed out of the room.

"It's OK," Auggie repeated over and over into Danielle's hair.

Danielle finally cried as Auggie held her and stroked her hair and talked softly to her, she cried for so much more than Annie's injury, but for their fights after Annie read her in and for moving and leaving her alone, she cried out of anger at herself and anger at Annie and as quickly as she started, she stopped.

"Wow, I really needed that," she stepped back and pulled her hair away from her warm damp face.

"It's going to be OK," Auggie looked so sincere it was hard not to believe him.

"Auggie…." A soft scratchy voice joined the conversation.

"Hey there," Auggie turned toward the bed and found her hand with practiced ease.

"Danielle's here," he talked as he reached up with his other hand and stroked her hair. Danielle couldn't help but notice the way his voice shifted down in tone and volume. His voice changed when he talked to her too.

"Good," was all Annie could get out, but she opened her eyes and found her sister in the room.

"I'm right here," Danielle couldn't think of anything better to say she was frozen in a spot and felt somehow on the outside of whatever was happening between the two of them.

Annie's eyes shifted to Auggie and she frowned.

"You OK?" she asked the man.

"Me? I'm fine, you're the one in the hospital," he chuckled.

"Sleep," she whispered.

"OK, go back to sleep we'll be here when you wake up again," Auggie squeezed her hand.

"No, you sleep," she squeezed back stronger than she had yet.

Next of Kin Part 3

The next afternoon Auggie arrived at the hospital freshly showered and shaved looking slightly better. In his hands he carried a large paper bag.

"I brought food," he announced.

"Oh good, if the food is as bad as the coffee we might be in trouble," Danielle looked up from her magazine.

"Trust me, it is. I wasn't not eating out of some sort of solidarity," he grinned.

"I brought a chair over to the other side of the bed, I didn't mess up your lay out," Danielle took the bag and began unpacking.

"Thanks," Auggie smiled as he found his way to his seat, "it'll be nice to have someone to talk to who talks back."

"Auggie, I can't thank you enough, the nurses say you are here almost constantly. What about work?"

"This is my work right now, Annie is my operative and I am where I am needed at the moment," he tried to make it sound more official than she knew it was.

"Uh huh. Do they teach you bedside manner on the Farm?"

"Boy am I hungry," Auggie changed the subject and took the sandwich Danielle handed him.

"You two are something else," Danielle shook her head and bit into her own sandwich.

Auggie just grinned and ate quietly.

"Did you find her?" Danielle asked suddenly.

"No, but I am her emergency contact, so they called me right away. She went right into surgery so I didn't get an update for a while, it was hard."

"I understand, that flight was the longest of my life. I thought if I could just see her it would be OK."

"And I can't even see her," Auggie sighed.

"That's not true, you just see her differently. Tell me about Annie, at work, whatever you can of course."

"Your sister is tough, she isn't that big but what she lacks in size she makes up for in tenacity," Auggie chuckled.

"That was true on the playground as kids too. She would always take on the biggest kid in dodge ball or tag."

"She is smart, her mind works very quickly and accurately. She can read people very well. She is perceptive to others feelings and can adjust her approach based on them, it makes her a very effective operative."

"When I finally came to terms with what you guys do it started to make sense to me. As angry as I was I eventually realized that Annie really did love this work and she was suited to it. So I suppose you have all these skills too, you must make quite the pair."

"My ability to read people has been slightly diminished, we wear so much of our emotion on our face and I can't see that. Luckily I have some pretty decent computer skills and a lot of expensive gadgets at my disposal. I am still not as useful as I would like to be, but I get by pretty well."

"I kind of got to experience you two working together last year in Stockholm. It was amazing how in tune you both were, how much was done with so few words or calls."

"We know each other pretty well."

"Do you know you are in love with each other?" Danielle asked nervously.

"Yes."

Not the answer she was expecting.

"Oh, Annie hadn't told me you had discussed it," she sounded slightly hurt.

"We haven't discussed it, but I think maybe we should," he turned then and reached for Annie's hand, "when the time is right."

The End


End file.
